Ksenia Afanasyeva

Later in March, Afanasyeva competed at the 19th French International in La Roche-sur-Yon. She placed fourth on balance beam with a score of 13.066, and won gold on the floor exercise with a score of 14.633.

In September she competed at the Russian Cup in preparation for the World Championships. She performed well, helping her team to the silver medal, and individually winning gold on floor (14.700), silver on beam (14.333) and bronze on vault (14.334). Following this meet, she was named to the nominative list for the 2015 World Championships.

Afanasyeva looked weak in podium training in Glasgow, and revealed that she was suffering from kidney stones and had spent a week in hospital. The Russian team performed well in qualifications, with Afanasyeva posting a 14.866 on vault and a 14.633 on floor, qualifying fourth individually into the floor final, and helping the team to qualify in second position to the team final. In the team final, the Russians started strongly on vault, with Afanasyeva improving on her qualifying score with a 15.066 for her double-twisting Yurchenko. However, with one fall on bars and three falls on beam, the Russians finished in fourth place and out of the medals, despite Afanasyeva's score of 14.500 on floor. Her final performance at the 2015 World Championships came in the floor final, where she upgraded her difficulty to a 6.4 and scored 15.100 to win the silver medal behind the USA's Simone Biles.

In July, she helped Russia finish first at the 2013 Summer Universiade with scores of 15.000 on vault, 12.550 on uneven bars, 14.250 on balance beam, and 14.750 on floor exercise. In doing so, she also qualified second to the all-around final behind Mustafina, fourth to the vault final, and first to the floor final. She went on to win the all-around silver medal, with Mustafina taking the gold. During the vault final, she debuted an Amanar and, in an upset over teammate Paseka, tied for first place with North Korean gymnast Hong Un-jong with a score of 15.125. She also won the floor final.

April saw a return to her pre-injury form, when she travelled to France for the European Championships and was crowned floor champion with a score of 14.733, as well as picking up a bronze medal on the vault after competing an Amanar and a Lopez and scoring 14.866. She admitted in an interview afterward that she had only successfully performed the Amanar vault twice in her life: once when she won the vault title at the 2013 Summer Universiade, and the second time in Montpellier. "If I didn't dare to try it, I would have had no chance," she said. "Either I'd win the bronze medal or I'd fall, but nothing ventured, nothing gained." She was officially congratulated by Vladimir Gruzdev, the governor of Afanasyeva's home region, Tula Oblast, who said, "The gold medal in the floor exercise was the result of hard work, perseverance, and determination. Your countrymen are proud of your achievements. I am confident that a strong character and skill will continue to serve as collateral for your athletic success."

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Afanasyeva was the captain of the Russian team, which consisted of her, Anastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova, Aliya Mustafina, and Maria Paseka. She described herself as more nervous than the rest of the team, but said, "Gymnastics is about beauty and grace. We are strong and beautiful. Our rivals may have upgraded their routines before us, yet we represent beauty. My girls didn’t surprise me at the European Championships because I see them every day. I know what they are capable of doing."

She was named to Russia's four-gymnast delegation for the 2009 World Championships in London, but was unable to compete because of a back injury.

In April 2008, she competed at the European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, contributing scores of 14.575 on vault and 14.100 on floor toward the Russian team's second-place finish. The following month, at the World Cup event in Tianjin, China, she placed second on vault, scoring 14.350; third on uneven bars, scoring 15.075; and fifth on balance beam, scoring 15.275.

Afanasyeva was a member of the Russian team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, along with Ludmilla Ezhova, Svetlana Kliukina, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Anna Pavlova, and Ksenia Semyonova. In qualifications, she placed sixth in the all-around with a score of 60.800 but did not advance to the final due to the two-per-country rule (only two gymnasts per country can advance to each final, and Pavlova and Semyonova finished ahead of her). In the team final, she contributed scores of 15.075 on vault, 14.925 on uneven bars, and 14.375 on floor toward the Russian team's fourth-place finish. In the balance beam final, she placed seventh with a score of 14.825.

In 2007, Afanasyeva placed second on balance beam at the World Cup event in Paris, scoring 15.175.

Afanasyeva competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, in July 2005. She won the bronze medal in the all-around competition with a total score of 36.550, behind Vanessa Ferrari of Italy (37.925) and fellow Russian Karina Myasnikova (37.000). In event finals, she placed fourth on vault and won bronze medals on balance beam and floor exercise. She also helped Russia win the team competition.

2005–2006: "Dancing With the Muse" 2007–2008: "Isadora" and "L for Love" 2009: "Ballet" and "Nuclear" 2010–2011: "The Color of the Night" 2011: "Tango in the Night"/"Infiltrado" 2012–2013: "Pulmon", "Ironside" and "Grand Guignol" 2014: "El Tango de Roxane" - José Feliciano, Ewan McGregor, Jacek Koman 2015: "Halo Theme (cover)" - Lindsey Stirling and William Joseph 2015 Worlds: "Puddit" by Al Jarreau

Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva (Russian: Ксения Дмитриевна Афанасьева ; born 13 September 1991) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the 2011 world champion on floor exercise, the 2013 and 2015 European floor champion, and the 2013 Universiade vault and floor champion. Widely regarded as one of the most original and artistic gymnasts of all time, she retired from elite gymnastics in July 2016 due to kidney disease, a month away from the 2016 Summer Olympics, for which she was the Russian team's first alternate.